Tuesday, March 5, 2013

‘No Fire Zone’ has incensed the
human minds…….. it is an investigatory documentary about the final weeks of Sri
Lankan civil war directed by Callum
Macrae. In the series of photographs
shot in 2009, the bare-chested boy is first shown seated on a bench watching
something outside the frame; then he is seen having a snack and in the third
image he is lying on the ground with bullet holes in his chest. The
photographs, which were released by the British broadcaster Channel 4, appear
to document the final moments in the life of 12-year-old Balachandran
Prabhakaran, the youngest son of the leader of LTTE. In an exclusive in The Hindu, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa denied
that the Army killed LTTE chief Prabakaran’s 12-year-old son Balachandran.

In this background, Sri Lanka now faces its second US-sponsored resolution
in as many years at the ongoing UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. America
is very keen on India’s
support on this issue since it is a key regional player. New Delhi is
under intense pressure from political parties in Tamil Nadu to back the
resolution rebuking Sri
Lanka over war crimes. Not sure of the reaction of Delhi
as there would be talks that India’s
support for the motion is likely to cause diplomatic tensions with Colombo.

Those who follow the cause of
Sri Lankan tamils will sure remember 23rd Mar 2012, when there was
debate on the US sponsored resolution against Sri
Lanka in the United Nations Human Rights Convention at Geneva.
At the end of the debate, Sri Lanka faced a major embarrassment as the UN's top
human rights body adopted a resolution censuring it for alleged war crimes in
the conflict with LTTE as India
joined the West in backing the US-sponsored move. In the 47-member UN Human
Rights Council, 24 countries, including India, voted for the resolution and
15 against it, while eight nations abstained. India,
which normally does not vote on nation-specific resolutions, made a last-minute
departure in the current instance after overwhelming pressure from parties in
Tamil Nadu, to vote against Sri
Lanka.

Well, it was a paper victory and
nothing big came out of that is another issue altogether. Sky nor the roof came crashing down as it was
a non-binding resolution. It did score
morally a correct message in trying to provide redressal of grievances of
tamils. The Chinese delegate had stated that
the resolution was a blatant violation of Sri Lanka’s rights as a sovereign
nation.

Moving to the present, the specifics
of the pending US
resolution remain unknown, but it is expected to once again call on the Sri
Lankan government to work towards reconciliation and open up its doors to
international monitors. Firstpost quoting US State Dept spokesman reports that “The
resolution will ask the Government of Sri Lanka to follow through on its own
commitments to its people,”

Morally, India should back the UNHRC resolution rebuking Sri Lanka. There
are reports that PM had promised to back the resolution though the fine print is
not yet out. It appears that motion also,
even if successful may not bind the Srilankan Govt to any policy. Still a rebuke would harm them internationally.
In 2010 the European Union withheld
trade preferences to Sri
Lanka over its perceived failure to address
human rights concerns.

There have been varying estimate
of those civilians killed in the war and media freedom is still trampled there.
Sri Lanka has dismissed the claims
and a large team of Sri Lankan officials and diplomats are lobbying countries
to oppose any fresh resolution, saying such a move would damage reconciliation
efforts.